Polymarket’s Meteoric Rise and Redemption
Founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan, then just 21 years old, Polymarket has quickly become a global phenomenon. “The past two years have been surreal,” Coplan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), where he announced that Polymarket has become the official prediction partner of X and Stocktwits.
“Our partnership with Intercontinental marks a major step in bringing prediction markets into the financial mainstream,” Coplan said. “Together, we’re expanding how individuals and institutions use probabilities to understand and price the future.”
The platform’s users wager on everything from Elon Musk’s posting frequency on X to New York City’s mayoral race outcomes and the next World Series champion — turning world events into tradable data points.
From Legal Storms to Legitimacy
Polymarket’s ascent hasn’t been without turbulence. The company reentered the U.S. market earlier this year after acquiring the holding company of licensed derivatives exchange and clearinghouse QCEX for $112 million.
This comeback followed an FBI investigation and a $1.4 million settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2022, which accused Polymarket of offering unregistered event-based binary options contracts.
Now compliant and expanding, Polymarket’s deal with ICE signals a dramatic transformation — from regulatory scrutiny to institutional embrace.
